gold buying in japan

interesting comments at Bloomberg this afternoon:

Mining News
Mon, 24 Mar 2003, 4:24pm EST
Market Strategy Institute's Kamei Says Gold May Rise Further
By Rajat Bhattacharya


Tokyo, March 24 (Bloomberg) -- Koichiro Kamei, managing director at Market Strategy Institute Inc. comments on gold for immediate delivery, which rose for the first time in four days, gaining as much as 0.9 percent to $329.05 a troy ounce in Asian trading. Prices rose as the U.S. and allied forces ran into the fiercest fighting of the war in Iraq to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

``People in the streets are starting to buy physical gold again. It's a good opportunity to buy because it looks like the war in Iraq is getting longer. It's not easy to occupy and disarm Iraq.

``My target for gold is $360 by early May as the war drags on. Some people in Japan are starting to buy gold because they think the yen may go weaker. The new central bank governor (Toshihiko) Fukui is taking non-traditional measures'' to revive the economy.

The yen has weakened 3.7 percent in the past two weeks against the dollar and traded at 121.22 yen a dollar 10:10 a.m. Tokyo time. A weaker yen makes gold a more valuable asset for Japanese residents because gold trades in dollars in international markets.